The Smile’s Tom Skinner announces new live album
Tom Skinner – best known for his work with The Smile and Sons of Kemet – has announced a limited edition live album, recorded at one of his shows in London last year.
It comes after the musician released the solo album ‘Voices of Bishara’ in 2022, which also featured performances from Robert Stillman and Chelsea Carmichael on woodwinds, Kareem Dayes on cello and Tom Herbert on bass.
He then went on to perform numerous tracks from the LP at an intimate live venue in London called ‘Mu’ in January 2023 – which is located on Kingsland Road in North London and founded by the curators behind the neighbouring Brilliant Corners.
Now, Skinner has announced that he will be sharing a live album following that show, which is set to arrive on May 10 via International Anthem, and features the renditions of the album’s tracks and more.
The album Skinner shared in 2022 also saw the musician take inspiration from Abdul Wadud’s 1977 self-released solo cello album, ‘By Myself’, and on the night Skinner used the ‘Mu’ performance to put his own spin on Wadud’s ‘70s composition ‘Oasis’. You can check it out here, and look below for the album artwork as well as the full tracklist.
The ‘Voices of Bishara Live at ‘Mu’’ tracklist is:
‘Biashara’
‘Red 2’
‘The Journey’
‘The Day After Tomorrow’
‘Oasis’
‘Camille’
‘Happiness’
‘Voices of Bishara Live at ‘Mu’’ is available in a deluxe package designed by Paul Camo of Studio Camo. The limited edition of 1200 vinyl LPs come in screen-printed, hand-numbered jackets – pressed by Pallas in Germany, with lacquers cut by Daniel K at SST, and production management by Minus Kungl of FOUR.
Similarly, a limited edition of 700 deluxe CDs are also available, packaged in a hand-numbed bespoke tip-on CD jacket with a 3-layer spot print, including a gloss UV relief.
You can pre-order both versions via Bandcamp here.
The announcement of the new live album comes after Skinner recently shared the album ‘Wall Of Eyes’ with The Smile – the follow-up to their 2022 debut album ‘A Light For Attracting Attention’.
The album, which Skinner shared alongside Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, was described by NME as solidifying the group as “one of the finest and most inventive rock bands on the planet right now”.
Earlier this year, the band also embarked upon a tour across the UK, and their stop in London was given a four-star review from NME and described as showing the album reaching new heights.
“The Smile manage a rare feat. As they swap instruments and lose themselves, the show feels like a GarageBand jam but without the wankery (and that’s accounting for the dissonant clarinet solos and Greenwood somehow managing to make shredding on a harp look cool),” it read. “You can’t call this self-indulgent when a capacity crowd are stuck in their quicksand funk.”
They also used the live gigs to debut a rave-inspired new song called ‘Don’t Get Me Started’.
The post The Smile’s Tom Skinner announces new live album appeared first on NME.
Liberty Dunworth
NME
